


Like father, like son

by Treon



Category: White Collar
Genre: Daddy Issues, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-17
Updated: 2013-10-17
Packaged: 2017-12-29 16:18:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1007475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Treon/pseuds/Treon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tag to 4x15/4x16.   Neal finds an answer about who he is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Like father, like son

**Author's Note:**

  * For [noiproksa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/noiproksa/gifts).



_James: You think that what's in there will tell you who I am._  
 _Neal: And if it does?_  
 _James: Then you will finally know who you are._  
  
  
Ever since Peter's release, he'd noticed Neal was acting strange.  On the surface, everything was just the same.  Neal made the same jokes, and ran the same cons, but though Peter couldn't quite put his finger on it, he realized something was off.  Maybe it was the fact that Neal found excuses every time Peter invited him over for dinner.  Something was bothering his CI.  
  
And so one morning, at the end of their regular staff briefing, when everybody else had already filed out of the room, Peter reached out to stop Neal.  "Hey.  Everything's OK?"  
  
Neal smiled reassuringly.  "Yeah, yeah, sure."  
  
It was a smile Peter had seen before, one that didn't reassure him in the least.  Peter sighed inwardly.  Neal wasn't one to share his true feelings, and getting at whatever it was that was bothering him could be like pulling teeth.  And yet Peter couldn't just let it go.  "You're not responsible for what your father did," he made a stab at it.  
  
"I know."  For a moment Neal held Peter's gaze.  
  
Ok, so that wasn't it.  Before Peter could think how else to approach the subject, Neal provided the answer himself.  "But I wanted to know who I am, and now I do."  He lowered his gaze.  "And now you do too."  
  
"What?" Peter laughed with disbelief.  "You're not your father."  
  
Neal shook his head.  "You said it yourself.  I'm just like him."  
  
"I never-" Peter paused mid-sentence.  Had he said that?  He couldn't be sure.  
  
Neal shifted his weight from one foot to another.  "Look, Peter, it doesn't matter.  I'm my father's son.  That's the way things are."  
  
"You didn't let an innocent man take the blame for a crime you committed."  
  
"I let Keller take the blame for stealing the sub treasure."  
  
Peter couldn't believe that Neal was actually serious.  "Keller wasn't innocent."  Neal gave him a look.  "And it wasn't your decision.  That was Keller's.  And mine."  Peter considered Neal for a moment.  "Tell me, Neal.  Who stole the treasure?"  
  
Neal opened his mouth to answer, but then shut it resolutely.  
  
"You told me you didn't steal it," Peter continued to press.  
  
Neal simply shrugged.  
  
"And yet you were willing to make a full confession, spend the rest of your life in jail for a crime you didn't commit.  Your father.." he saw Neal flinch and corrected himself, "James, killed two people in cold blood to cover up his own crimes.  You've never killed anybody, and you had the opportunity."  Peter was there when Neal shot Keller.  He was there when Neal pulled a gun on Fowler.  "This isn't who you are," he'd pleaded with Neal.  "You're not a killer."  And he wasn't.  
  
"Not to say that you can't be annoying at times.."  
  
Peter was gratified that he finally got Neal to smile.  A real smile this time.


End file.
